• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, December 27, 2018

While much of the world was readying for Santa’s visit on Christmas Eve Martin Sorrell was busy sealing S4 Capital’s merger with programmatic company MightyHive.

The merger entailed issuing “new ordinary shares” in the company which began trading on the London Stock Exchange bright and early on Dec. 24. At that point, the MightyHive deal was final and unconditional.

Sorrell commented, “We are delighted to announce the closing of the MightyHive merger …S4 Capital is now in a position to compete for comprehensive digital-first mandates at the highest level and is beginning to succeed meaningfully.”

With the transaction MightyHive principals Peter Kim, Chris Martin and Daniel Pinto, the last also being CEO of investment firm Stanhope Capital, have joined the S4 board. Stanhope led the new share offering.

S4 confirmed that it had entered a definitive agreement to merge with MightyHive in early December. The deal was valued at about $150 million and financed with a mix of cash and stock.

That deal followed S4’s acquisition of MediaMonks in July.

S4 as I’m sure you know is Sorrell’s comeback vehicle for acquiring a new bunch of marketing firms after he was forced out as WPP’s CEO in April.

Looks like the year is ending on a happier note for Sir Martin now that he’s a running a holding company again. Maybe not as a big as WPP but hey, size isn’t everything. WPP, as I’m sure you’ve read is trying to drop some weight in fact, and be more nimble and responsive to client needs.

Nimbleness is the new black, right?